Skipper Josh Macleod and fellow international Tom Rogers return to the Scarlets starting line-up for Saturday’s west Wales derby against the Ospreys at the Electric Brewery Field in Bridgend (17:30: S4C & Premier Sports).
Macleod, a talisman so often in the No. 7 jersey, has recovered from a hamstring issue, while Rogers has come through the head injury protocols that meant he missed the late defeat to the Vodacom Bulls last time out.
For this BKT United Rugby Championship round 17 clash, Rogers slots into a back three that again includes Blair Murray at full-back and Macs Page on the left wing.
Wales international pairing Joe Roberts and Eddie James continue in midfield, as do Joe Hawkins and Dane Blacker at half-back.
The front row of Kemsley Mathias, Ryan Elias and Henry Thomas is the same as the one that took the field against the Bulls, but there is a change in the second row. Sam Lousi is ruled out because of a back issue so Jac Price comes in to partner Max Douglas.
Macleod, who has missed the last three matches, starts at openside in a dynamic back-row combination that also includes Taine Plumtree and Fletcher Anderson.
Back-rower Dan Davis, a late withdrawal from the Bulls clash, will make his 100th Scarlets appearance if he comes off the bench.
Harry Thomas, Josh Morse, Harri O’Connor and Jarrod Taylor make up the rest of the forward cover. Archie Hughes, Carwyn Leggatt-Jones and Ioan Jones cover the backline.
Interim Director of Rugby Nigel Davies said: “It’s always a big fixture against the Ospreys, our nearest and dearest rivals. It’s what the supporters want to see, these contests with the best players from each side going up against each other. It brings that level of intensity, passion, identity and also brings a different layer to your preparation, which I have seen in our training this week.
“With us, there has been frustration after the last two games; we have put in a decent level of performance into both games and we feel if we had been a bit sharper and smarter in key moments we would have come away with the results.
“It is about making sure we turn up with that mindset every match and the results will come and so will the confidence and belief and that is when you put runs of wins together. It is about setting the mentality this season so the group are ready for whatever comes next season. It is very much setting the level of competitiveness that we want this team to perform to, both individually and collectively, and the Ospreys will test us in every moment on Saturday.”
Scarlets team to face Ospreys on Saturday, May 9 (17:30; S4C & Premier Sports)
15 Blair Murray; 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Eddie James, 11 Macs Page; 10 Joe Hawkins, 9 Dane Blacker; 1 Kemsley Mathias, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Henry Thomas, 4 Jac Price, 5 Max Douglas, 6 Taine Plumtree, 7 Josh Macleod (capt), 8 Fletcher Anderson.
Reps: 16 Harry Thomas, 17 Josh Morse, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Dan Davis, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 23 Ioan Jones.
Unavailable because of injury
Marnus van der Merwe, Sam Lousi, Ellis Mee, Sam Costelow, Jake Ball, Will Evans, Dom Kossuth.